We have a TV in our church lobby that shows a live feed from the auditorium throughout the service. Over the years, we’ve used a soundbar for audio to keep things simple. But after we blew our third soundbar, I wasn’t about to buy a fourth.
I emailed 35,000 of our subscribers to find out what they used for sound in their lobby, and there was a clear winner. JBL Control 28.
JBL Control 28. It’s a passive 8” surface mount indoor/outdoor speaker. With such an overwhelming recommendation from our subscribers, we purchased a pair to give them a shot.
But then came the tricky part—figuring out the best placement for them.
I spent a solid ten minutes just standing in the lobby, thinking through the options.
Above the TV, so it would feel natural to the listener?
Above the windows, to carry sound down the hallway?
Above the auditorium door, maybe?
In the end, I mounted the speakers so they face the same direction as the main speakers in the lobby. This was the best solution for us for a few reasons.
First, in two of the possible locations, there would be sound bleed from the lobby into the auditorium, which could create a weird experience for anyone in the back of the auditorium.
Second, mounting on the long wall ensured an even spread across the lobby. If we mounted on the short wall, one side of the lobby would’ve been way louder than the other.
Lastly, by facing the same direction as the main speakers, I could easily handle delay issues—something many churches overlook.
Let me tell you, there’s nothing worse than walking into a lobby where the sound is out of sync with what’s coming from the auditorium.
To fix this, you need to add delay to your lobby speaker output to match the auditorium sound. Most mixers make this super simple. They’ll give you a time and distance figure—just measure the distance between your main speakers and your lobby speakers, and you’re good to go.
Now, we had an old Crown amp in storage that we used to power these speakers. After we got it all hooked up, I was eager to hear what our subscribers were so excited about.
And at first listen, I wasn't a fan. But that didn't shake me. Even good speakers need to be EQ'd to sound their best.
After setting up the reference mic, running pink noise, and EQing to the EQ curve I teach in my Room EQ Made Simple course, they sounded great!
I’ve been working on this room EQ curve for years, and you can download it for free here.
Then, Sunday came, and I noticed a problem.
Since our lobby shares a huge wall with the auditorium, there is A LOT of sound bleed. I did not account for that when EQing the lobby speakers initially, so there was too much low-mid going on.
The solution? EQ the lobby speakers again, but this time with pink noise playing loudly in the auditorium simultaneously.
This simple change helped account for the sound bleed coming from the auditorium into the lobby and achieve the perfect EQ for the lobby.
Now, it sounds just as good in the lobby as it does in the auditorium. Since both spaces are EQ’d to the same curve, you barely notice the transition when moving between them.
EQing your auditorium and lobby is the secret sauce for making your sound pleasant yet powerful. It will even make your live stream sound better.
This used to be a technique only for professionals, but my easy-to-follow course has made it available to anyone willing to give it a go.
Get access to Room EQ Made Simple here
